I lubed my window tracks and replace my white plastic window thingies with the aluminum ones from Dali. I have the boxed type cable holder but since I noticed that the plastic thingie had cracked on the passenger side, I replaced it. I took out the regulator to give it a good wipe down and relube and I noticed something I never noticed before, and probably wouldn't have, had I not taken it out. It appeared that only 1 of 6 black, plastic covers remained on 6 tabs that server as rail guides for the cable holder. The one black piece that was still remaining was on the side you can't see unless you take it out and these black covers appear to give the cable holder a snug fit while sliding up and down the main track. I fished around at the bottom of the door and sure enough found what was left of the literally disintegrated pieces. I think this window had been operating like this for quite some time and even without these black covers, the cable holder will not detach from the rail (it's just no longer snug and is lubed metal on metal instead of 6 lubed plastic covers on metal), so I went ahead and reinstalled everything and lubed the front and rear glass guides. Things are much smoother again, no popping noise, but not necessarily "faster". Has anyone experienced if getting a fresh set of 6 black covers for these metal tabs on the cable holder significantly improves things and/or how essential are these covers as I want to keep things running well?
Mystery Parts for the Window Thingies Job
- Thread starter vf2ss
- Start date
Well I answered my own question...I don't believe those black tab covers are necessary. The reason why I was initially concerned, is that without the tabs, the cable holder has quite a bit of play on the rail. Notice that the metal tabs do not have any black plasstic covers on it to hold it in place.
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<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/play.jpg" border="0" alt=""
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But, once your window is bolted back onto the glass mounting plate, the cable holder is solidly kept "on track" and would be positioned like...
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/straight.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
I made sure to clean the rails real good
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/cleanrail.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
and you can see that I already began to lube the main contact surface and am about to lube all alongside the inside edge that the cable guide tabs grab on to. So I pretty much lubed everything that came in contact with the cable holder.
<br>
Here's what was left of my black tabs...
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/blacktabs.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
My guess, and this is only a guess, is that a lot of our cars that have experienced the "popping" sound or any kind of strained window operation due to rail-lubing neglect, age, etc. have almost completely destroyed or lost their tabs. The amount of tension on these tabs unlubricated would just rip'em apart is my guess. Small broken plastic parts seems to be a recurring issue with a lot of the older plastic pieces that surround the NSX from a broken screw tab for a cover somewhere in the dash, a broken wheel liner peg, etc. I guess this grade of plastic just disintegrates over time.
On the popping noise. AS the repair manual states, the "pop" sound clearly comes from the glass mounting plate attempting to slide on the white spool without any lubrication.
<br>
http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/popping.MPG
<br>
Oh, how I hate that sound. So, just as the repair manual states, lubricate the white spool!
My guess is that this sound might even be amplified if you are missing your plastic black tabs because now it's metal on metal where the metal cable guide "hits" or "knocks" on the metal railguide when the unlubricated glass mounting plates finally slides on the white spool with the sudden jerk that makes the pop.
Faster Window...much faster.
Anyway, I said my window was NOT faster in my first post. I was wrong. That was testing it prior to starting the car. Duh, more power when the motor's running. When I took the car out for a drive and used the windows, significant improvement was noticed afterall. Now it's been about a week and I just don't think those tabs are important. My window was running that way before I even lubed everything. Now I have Aluminum window thingys on both sides and everything is lubed with Honda Urea Grease (white spool, front and rear glass guides, main regulator rail). You can easily figure it out when you're in there what to grease cuz you can tell where all the contact points are.
Why I Switched
The reason I changed my thingy's even though I had the newer "box-type" was , if you look at this photo, you will notice that the metal cast enclosure was bending. This bend is on the side of when the motor is trying to raise your window, so it is essentially pulling this heavy glass against gravity and against whatever resistance your ungreased rails and guides that are probably coated in dirt are adding. Had everything been regularly lubed, with no missing or broken black plastic tabs, maybe the amount of strain that is put on this particular section would be greatly reduced. I already mentioned in my first post that I noticed a significant crack in the white plastic thingy, so it had failed, and this box type is the back-up for that failure and I had read on prime of an instance where the box type failed on a '94. Regardless, with the aluminum thingys, at such a minimal investment, I don't need to worry about this again.
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/castbend.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
Keeping the Guides and Rails Clean
One last thing. I noticed that my plastic door liner was torn at the bottom when I initially opened everything up. This is bad. Dirt is going to get in inevitably since there is a drain hole about 1" square at the bottom and back of your door, but having a torn opening on the sides isn't going to help any. All I'm saying is either replace the liner or repair it with some strong tape. Don't leave it torn. The more dust and dirt that can get in, the more it ends up on greased surfaces.
<br>
So, if you're doing the window thingys job and get in there and notice the black tabs are missing, order some before you start, (if you can, I couldn't find where you could get them separate from a window regulator assembly) but you'll need 6 per door and they are two different sizes for each one, or, don't worry about it and just clean and grease really good since your window has probably been running like that for a long time.
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/play.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
But, once your window is bolted back onto the glass mounting plate, the cable holder is solidly kept "on track" and would be positioned like...
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/straight.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
I made sure to clean the rails real good
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/cleanrail.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
and you can see that I already began to lube the main contact surface and am about to lube all alongside the inside edge that the cable guide tabs grab on to. So I pretty much lubed everything that came in contact with the cable holder.
<br>
Here's what was left of my black tabs...
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/blacktabs.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
My guess, and this is only a guess, is that a lot of our cars that have experienced the "popping" sound or any kind of strained window operation due to rail-lubing neglect, age, etc. have almost completely destroyed or lost their tabs. The amount of tension on these tabs unlubricated would just rip'em apart is my guess. Small broken plastic parts seems to be a recurring issue with a lot of the older plastic pieces that surround the NSX from a broken screw tab for a cover somewhere in the dash, a broken wheel liner peg, etc. I guess this grade of plastic just disintegrates over time.
On the popping noise. AS the repair manual states, the "pop" sound clearly comes from the glass mounting plate attempting to slide on the white spool without any lubrication.
<br>
http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/popping.MPG
<br>
Oh, how I hate that sound. So, just as the repair manual states, lubricate the white spool!
My guess is that this sound might even be amplified if you are missing your plastic black tabs because now it's metal on metal where the metal cable guide "hits" or "knocks" on the metal railguide when the unlubricated glass mounting plates finally slides on the white spool with the sudden jerk that makes the pop.
Faster Window...much faster.
Anyway, I said my window was NOT faster in my first post. I was wrong. That was testing it prior to starting the car. Duh, more power when the motor's running. When I took the car out for a drive and used the windows, significant improvement was noticed afterall. Now it's been about a week and I just don't think those tabs are important. My window was running that way before I even lubed everything. Now I have Aluminum window thingys on both sides and everything is lubed with Honda Urea Grease (white spool, front and rear glass guides, main regulator rail). You can easily figure it out when you're in there what to grease cuz you can tell where all the contact points are.
Why I Switched
The reason I changed my thingy's even though I had the newer "box-type" was , if you look at this photo, you will notice that the metal cast enclosure was bending. This bend is on the side of when the motor is trying to raise your window, so it is essentially pulling this heavy glass against gravity and against whatever resistance your ungreased rails and guides that are probably coated in dirt are adding. Had everything been regularly lubed, with no missing or broken black plastic tabs, maybe the amount of strain that is put on this particular section would be greatly reduced. I already mentioned in my first post that I noticed a significant crack in the white plastic thingy, so it had failed, and this box type is the back-up for that failure and I had read on prime of an instance where the box type failed on a '94. Regardless, with the aluminum thingys, at such a minimal investment, I don't need to worry about this again.
<br>
<img src="http://www.vf2ss.com/transfer/window/castbend.jpg" border="0" alt=""
<br>
Keeping the Guides and Rails Clean
One last thing. I noticed that my plastic door liner was torn at the bottom when I initially opened everything up. This is bad. Dirt is going to get in inevitably since there is a drain hole about 1" square at the bottom and back of your door, but having a torn opening on the sides isn't going to help any. All I'm saying is either replace the liner or repair it with some strong tape. Don't leave it torn. The more dust and dirt that can get in, the more it ends up on greased surfaces.
<br>
So, if you're doing the window thingys job and get in there and notice the black tabs are missing, order some before you start, (if you can, I couldn't find where you could get them separate from a window regulator assembly) but you'll need 6 per door and they are two different sizes for each one, or, don't worry about it and just clean and grease really good since your window has probably been running like that for a long time.
Last edited:
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